Opinion

When downtown shoppers pass the southeast corner of Shattuck and Allston these days, they’re apt to see unhappy-looking people with their noses pressed to the glass in the door of the storefront there. That’s because the last stand of the fabled Cody’s bookstore suddenly closed its doors a couple of weeks ago, leaving books on the shelves and signs announcing upcoming author talks in the windows. A combination of changes in the publishing industry and unsuccessful business decisions with accompanying debts prompted the current owner, a Japanese corporation, to withdraw funding from the enterprise. -more-

-more-

DONA SPRING -more-

On July 8 the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to put the “Voter Approval” initiative on the November ballot. -more-

In responding to Michael Stephens’ July 10 letter, “The Tree Sit Saga,” in which he criticizes my July 3 commentary, “City Must Continue Lawsuit Against UC,” I would just like to say that Mr. Stephens’ glaring rationality helped me to see the folly of my views, and I have now come around to his way of thinking. -more-

If cities were comedians you could say Berkeley and San Francisco are riffing on each other. Each claims to be crazier. Why they would claim bragging rights is unclear. -more-

I want to thank Becky O’Malley for her heartfelt, intelligent, respectful appreciation of Dona Spring (see front page). I met Dona soon after moving to California 14 years ago. We had a warm collegial relationship; I greatly admired her work, and I think she had high regard for mine. The various causes to which she committed her time and energy were and are passionate commitments for me as well, including peace and social justice, disability rights, animal rights, and defense of the oak grove and the protesters perched in its branches. -more-

With a profoundly heavy heart I received the sad news of the sudden passing of Berkeley City Councilmember Dona Spring, whom I called my friend. I frankly cannot now even try to quantify her positive impact on our town and the thought of moving forward without her leadership weighs hard. I truly appreciated her “big tent,” include-everybody vision of a progressive community and her self-effacing respect-for-everybody personal manner. -more-